Copyright

April 27, 2006

I picked a good day yesterday to go see my first tennis match at MUS. It was the final day of the Shelby League championships, and MUS faced a tough challenge. Trailing Lausanne, 10-9, with only two matches remaining, the Owls had to win both the singles and doubles titles to claim victory.Both matches were scheduled for the same time, making it especially exciting for fans.

Will Carruthers represented MUS in the singles championship, and he rose to the occasion. Taking an early lead, Will kept the pressure on his opponent and didn't let up until he had won reasonably handily in two straight sets. Carruthers' victory tied MUS with Lausanne and guaranteed the Owls no worse than a tie for the championship.

That left the pressure on Jack Klug and Brad Ringel in the doubles final against a team from ECS. This was more of a seesaw battle, as the momentum shifted back and forth. But, when the critical moments arrived, Klug and Ringel rose to the occasion and won the decisive points, resulting in another straight set win.

Congratulations to Coach Suddarth and the Lower School Tennis Team for their hard work and Shelby League Championship. As important as the victory was, I was equally glad to see all our competitors conduct themselves as sportsmen on the court, giving a display of character equal to their display of tennis skills.

April 25, 2006

Last Thursday night was the annual dinner at the Rendezvous honoring the graduating class of MUS and a very special one for me. 2006 is the year that my first teaching class graduates; the boys who were my 8th grade Algebra students back in 2001-2002 are now graduating and heading off to college.

I found it hard to believe that time could pass this quickly and the students I met back in August 2001 were not young men. On my first day of school, I shot a digital photo of each student and created a visual seating chart so that I could learn my students' names more quickly. It's funny to think about that now; I used to have trouble with names, but now I learn my students' names each year, pretty easily, within the first couple of days. I recently came across that seating chart, and it brought back memories.

When I met my first class of students, I wasn't sure what the future held for me, any more than I was sure of what it was going to hold for my students. I was single. My longtime girlfriend Karen had begrudgingly moved to Memphis with me in hopes that I would finally see the obvious and marry her before her patience ran out (fortunately I did). I was trying teaching, a profession that I didn't know whether I would be any good at or whether I would enjoy doing. And the world was very different, gasoline hovered at $1.00 per gallon and I never had to take my shoes off at the airport. Has it only been five years?

When I look back at that photo of my first class, the other thing that struck me was that only 12 of my first 18 students went on to become MUS graduates. Some left MUS because of the serendipity of family relocations. Others discovered that MUS' offerings weren't well suited to their talents and needs and found other schools that they hoped would provide a better match.

I remember one of those students particularly well. He struggled mightily at MUS and those difficulties instead of inspiring him got the better of him and made him a profoudly unhappy boy. It's strange and disturbing to see someone that young so consistently unhappy; sure, adolescence has its pressures, but it's also supposed to have a lot of fun mixed in, as well.

I see him from time to time now, and I'm genuinely pleased because invariably I see him smiling. He rarely smiled when he was in my class; in fact I don't know if I even remember a single time. Now, on those occasions where our paths cross, it seems he's always smiling. And I smile back, happy that he found somewhere right for him. As an MUS graduate and now teacher, I am acutely aware that MUS is a great place for many young men, but it's not the right place for everyone.

I guess I better get back to the dinner. It was fun to go around and shake hands with these boys, now young men. They're off to a variety of colleges which will provide them with a new set of challenges and adventures. In four more years, these "boys" will be headed to work, graduate school, the military, or parts unknown -- I hope they realize how quickly time passes and take advantage of every minute. And when those four years have passed... today's 8th graders will be headed off to college to take their place.

April 24, 2006

A few months back, I bought my wife a Nintendo DS handheld game system. Yes, I know that's not the usual thing to buy for one's wife and no, I didn't buy it for an anniversary gift. I figured that since we spent a bunch of time on planes that it would help pass the time.

I thought I had purchased it with the perfect game for her, Nintendogs. She has a pug back in Singapore, and this game allows you to play with and train your own virtual pug (as well as about 20 other breeds of dog). Nintendogs allows you to interact with your virtual pet by using a pen-like stylus to pet and groom your dog and by giving the "dog" verbal commands (the Nintendo DS has a microphone). It turned out to be reasonably cool, but it was not the right game for an airplane -- my wife didn't want to be yelling, "Here Sweetie! Sit Sweetie!" in the middle of a flight for fear air marshals would have to intervene.

OK, OK, I'll get to the point of this post...

This weekend, we bought a game for the Nintendo DS called Brain Age. It's a very cool piece of software with a variety of daily exercises for your brain. It's become a phenomenon in Japan as their aging adult population tries to keep its brains young and agile.

The concept of the product is that daily mental exercise can improve your mental functioning, and the game provides both practice and testing to track your progress. The test calculates your "brain age" -- an indicator of the quality of your mental functioning -- younger is better with the best brain age being 20. Needless to say, maturity and wisdom are not a part of this. :)

The game provides a varied set of daily mental exercises and tests (arithmetic, memory, verbal, visual). it even includes sudoku puzzles that you can play on the system if you enjoy that pastime. It's also fun because of its characteristic goofy Japanese game style -- since your Nintendo DS has a calendar built in, the program uses that in its interactions with you (lately, the game's animated brain doctor has been sneezing a lot because he claims to have springtime allergies).

My wife and I got a kick out of it. Karen and I now engage in daily battle to see who is mentally younger, and the only elementary school student (Loyal Murphy's son) who tried it enjoyed trying to see how fast he could do arithmetic problems ("fun" and "arithmetic problems" in the same sentence?).

Last week, Zack McMillin of the Commercial Appeal wrote a very nice story about my unconventional career path from MUS to Microsoft and back.

It seems that everyone has seen it based on the many kind emails I received, but if you're interested in reading the article online, it's available by clicking here.

The online version saves you from having to see the grumpy mugshot from my Microsoft ID badge, but you can see it here if you're really curious. And, if you want to see what one Microsoft employee looked like in its natural habitat, here's a photo from 1992.

And here, in its entirety, is the e-mail message from Ellis Haguewood that enticed me back to MUS.

Bruce, are you still alive? If yes, go to question # 2. If no, skip down to the end. Is there life after Microsoft? If yes, where is it? You know that we could use a good-looking guy like you at MUS for a few years or a few months or even a few days. The company is superb, the Clack [former MUS dining
hall] food is sumptuous, and the pay is marvelous. Actually the pay could be seven figures per year, if two of them follow the decimal point.-- Ellis

April 21, 2006

Today, the seventh grade assembled to elect two Honor Council representatives and the Student Council president for next school year. The floor was opened for nominations, and elections ensued from 9:30-10:45am. The thorough process is designed to identify a clear winner, so we painstakingly went through a number of rounds to ensure integrity in the final result.

Congratulations to Ivan Denson and Chip Williams who were elected to the positions of Lower School Honor Council representatives for the 2006-2007 school year. They will serve as the eighth grade class reps along with the two seventh grade reps who will be selected in the fall.

Congratulations to Quay Stallworth, elected 2006-2007 Lower School Student Council president. The five Student Council class representatives for next year's eighth grade will be elected in homeroom next Friday.

April 17, 2006

Back in the day on the Cumberland Strip in Knoxville, two regular student hangouts went by the catchy names "The Library" and "The Last Lap." Needless to say, one was no academic collection and the other no athletic track, not that there's anything wrong with it. Here on the shady side of the fourth quarter following the last progress report period of the year, things are somewhat different, though the temptations to imbibe in tomfoolery may be similar.

This Last Lap of sorts for the year will be held at a hectic pace, no doubt, and for some students it may mean the difference between matriculating on to the Upper School or deciding upon another school that may be a better overall fit. Whatever the case, the Last Lap at MUS for 2005-2006 is in the boys' hands. I am confident that every student has the opportunity to finish his coursework at the maximum of his ability, and the faculty and I will do whatever we can to create an environment that is encouraging so that the boys have every chance to finish well.

Beginning this week, some students will officially be released from Academic Warning status. Those who remain will meet with Mr. Batey and Mrs. Germann so we can chart a course of accountability and success for the last six weeks. Some impressive honors and awards await announcement until May, so I look forward to celebrating all that good stuff then.

Until vacation time is here, please help us keep the boys sharp and focused. We're almost there...one lap to go.

April 13, 2006

The new poll concerns our recent experiences with severe weather and the decision whether to close or stay open for the day. MUS was in the minority of schools who decided to stay the course and stay open all session, but we'd like to hear what you think about this.

I haven't done this before in the blog, but thought you might be interested in seeing the Faculty Honor Roll for the 3rd Quarter. In order to receive this honor, a student must have an 85 average, no grade below an 80, and no deportment grade worse than Satisfactory.

I apologize for the sparse blogging lately. Between school, tax preparation, Upper School math conpetitions and a host of other responsibilities, I've been a little tied up and fell behind on my writing. After I get back from the Easter Break, I'll get back on full duty.